Shelbourne 1 - 2 Aberdeen: Double for McGinn

MARK WALKER

NIALL McGINN scored a birthday double as the Dons completed their Irish tour with an easy win, despite suffering an injury scare when new signing Calvin Zola limped off.

Derek McInnes’ new-look side were far too classy for the Irish League’s bottom team in Dublin and could and should have won by far more after falling a goal behind to a Jake Donnolly free kick, with McGinn celebrating his 26th birthday in style.

And the new Pittodrie boss revealed Zola’s injury isn’t as bad as first feared and was just relieved to come through the match on the bone-hard Tolka Park pitch unscathed after already losing Chris Clark to a knee injury in their win at Malahide United on Thursday.

He said: “I think Calvin’s going to be all right. Their boy’s come down the back of him and he said he’s felt a sharp pain so we’ll see how he is, but the physio and doctor are quite sure it’s nothing too sinister. But I just felt with the pitch and everything else, not to take any more risks.

“We were really concerned at the surface. You’re always running the risk of injury with that kind of pitch. It was as poor a pitch as you will see.

“The boys deserve a lot of credit for coming back. I thought the tempo and enthusiasm in the second half was terrific and they rose above the pitch conditions. We scored two very good goals and passed up loads more.”